"He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the
holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment
ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship
the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:10-11).
At first glance this passage may seem to confirm the traditional idea
of a seething, sulfurous hellfire, mercilessly and eternally tormenting
helpless immortal souls. But if we don't already hold to a preconceived
mental picture of hell, we can quickly grasp that this passage describes
a considerably different circumstance.
First, notice the setting for this passage. From the context we see that
the events it describes occur on earth amid earth-shaking events
and disasters occurring immediately before or at Christ's return, not in
hell or the afterlife at all. This warning describes the punishment that
will befall all the earth's inhabitants "who worship the beast and his
image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
Chapter 13 describes this "beast"-an end-time dictatorial superpower
opposed to God-and its mark. Those who accept this mark show that
their allegiance is to this powerful system rather than God, and in chapter
14 God reveals the consequences of that choice-warning of the terrifying
punishments that will precede Christ's return (see verses 14-20 and the
following two chapters).
